Colby Takes Fourth at NESCAC Men's Championships, Collect 8 All-NESCAC Awards
The Colby Men's Swimming and Diving team traveled to Wesleyan to compete in the four day NESCAC Swimming and Diving Championships over the weekend. The Mules took 4th out of the 11 competing teams, collecting a total of 915 points and tallying eight all-conference awards. Head Coach Tom Burton was voted as the 2023 NESCAC Men's Swim Coach of the Year after he guided the Mules to their best placement in program history.
*Neil Mortimer won two events (50 Butterfly, 100 Butterfly), setting a new NESCAC record in the 50. Mortimer's victories mark the first for a Colby swimmer since Jabez Dewey in 2007.
Men's Top-5 Finishers:
- Mortimer - 1st: 50 Butterfly (NESCAC record), 1st: 100 Butterfly (school record) , 3rd: 50 Freestyle (school record)
- 200 Freestyle Relay - 2nd (Mortimer, Kronenwetter, Xiong, MacLennan - school record)
- Brandon Xiong - 3rd: 50 Backstroke (school record)
- Shaun Kronenwetter - 3rd: 100 Freestyle, 5th: 50 Freestyle
- 200 Medley Relay - 3rd (Mortimer, Kronenwetter, Xiong, MacLennan - school record)
- Alexander MacLennan - 4th : 200 Individual Medley (school record)
- 400 Freestyle Relay - 4th (Carson Rehkopf, Mortimer, Kronenwetter, Xiong)
- 400 Medley Relay - 5th (Mortimer, Kronenwetter, Xiong, MacLennan - school record)
After competing in their own NESCAC Championships the previous weekend, the Women’s Swimming & Diving team traveled to Wesleyan for the February Invite. The Mules collected four first place finishes.
Women's Event Winners:
- 200 Freestyle Relay - Gabriella Landau, Ann Tolan, Kellen Mottl, Ruby Venturelli
- 200 Medley Relay - Landau, Ellie Mackle, Mottl, Tolan
- Tolan - 100 Freestyle
- Landau - 100 Backstroke
Both Men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving will look towards NCAA zone diving regionals on the 24th-25th and wrap up the season with NCAA Championships on March 15th-18th.
Colby Comes Back From 10-Point Deficit, Stuns Wesleyan to Advance
The sixth seed Colby Men’s Basketball team headed to Middletown, Conn. Saturday for a NESCAC quarterfinals matchup against third-seeded Wesleyan. Earlier in the season Colby fell to the Cardinals 59-79, but the Mules were intent on rewriting the script.
After a 30-37 halftime deficit shooting only 33% from the field, Colby came out firing in the second half, shooting 62% and locking down defensively. Down by four with only 13 seconds left in regulation, Noah Tyson hit two free throws and converted on a turnover to send the game to overtime. In the extra period, the Mules grabbed a quick lead and outpaced the Cardinals to an 82-80 victory.
Colby’s bench scoring (25 points to the Cardinals eight) was a key factor, with Lucas Green tying Tyson for a team-high 22 points. Will King contributed a double-double with 11 points and 12 assists. Jack Lawson led Colby with 11 rebounds.
Colby improves to 19-6 and will head to top-seed Williams Saturday for a 2:00pm NESCAC semifinal matchup.
Women's Alpine Wins Williams GS, Spear Takes Podium
Entering the fifth weekend on the six-stop EISA circuit, the Women's Alpine team had finished second twice and third once during the 2023 season in Giant Slalom events. On Saturday, the Mules collected the top step of the podium, earning the first outright victory for the women's team since 2014.
Fantastic first runs led to prime positions for the Mules to charge up the leaderboard, and that's exactly what they did. Molly Mueller (photo left) jumped from 15th to 13th, Lydia Riddell moved from 8th to 4th, and Ella Spear improved from 4th to take the third step of the podium.
For the Men's team, Chauncey Morgan was the top Colby finisher in the Giant Slalom hauling in 14th place. In Friday's Slalom, first-year Topher Davenport led the charge finishing 15th in his first collegiate race, with Tucker Strauch right behind in 18th.
Top-30 Individual Results:
- Spear: 3rd GS, 27th SL
- Riddell: 4th GS
- Mueller: 13th GS
- Morgan: 14th GS
- Davenport: 15th SL, 25th GS
- Strauch: 18th SL
- Meagan Olsen: 23rd GS, 24th SL
- Brooks Reed: 23rd GS, 26th SL
- Patrick Coughlin: 24th GS
- Cam Owens: 29th GS
Heading into the final weekend of the EISA season (hosted by St. Lawrence), Colby has several athletes on the verge of qualifying for the NCAA Championships, led by Spear and Riddell ranked 13th and 15th for the women respectively, and Morgan currently ranked 17th for the men.
Mules Sweep Conn., Land in 3rd for NESCAC Playoffs
With a sweep of Conn. College in the final regular season weekend, the Women's Ice Hockey team tied last year's program record for wins at 16 and leaped over Middlebury in the standings to claim the third seed heading into next weekend's playoffs.
Friday night's game was all Colby, with scores coming from three different seniors (Jillian Mazzocca, Tate Senden, McKinley Karpa). Mandy Busky was perfect in net, collecting 26 saves for her fourth straight win and fourth shutout of the season.
In Saturday's 2-1 victory, the Mules celebrated senior day with an impressive third period score (Meg Rittenhouse) and a thrilling defensive stand in the final minutes. With one goal and two assists, Rittenhouse maintains her hold on the conference lead in points (29) and earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors for the second time this season.
Colby enters the playoffs with a 16-6-0 record and will host a quarterfinal match against Trinity College Saturday at 3:00pm. The Mules swept the Bantams when they faced off at the end of January, winning 2-0 and 9-3.
Colby Fifth Seed Heading into NESCAC Playoffs
Colby entered the final weekend of regular season with a potential home playoff game within reach. Exploding for five goals Friday night against Conn. College, led by Carter Breitenfeldt's first career hat trick, Colby completed the season sweep of the Camels 5-1.
Entering Saturday's matchup against Tufts, the Mules needed a win over Tufts and a Hamilton loss to jump into the fourth seed and host a quarterfinal NESCAC match next weekend. Despite playing neck and neck with the Jumbos, Tufts tallied goals in the first and third periods to top the Mules 2-0 and solidify Colby's position in the fifth seed.
Colby enters the NESCAC playoffs with a 12-10-2 record, lined up to play at Hamilton Saturday at 4:30.
Track Heats Up Leading Into Indoor Postseason
The Mules had a great showing over the weekend at Bowdoin for the Lynn Ruddy Invitational, tallying seven total event winners and a plethora of top-three finishes and one podium sweep.
Women’s Top-3 Finishes:
- Triple Jump - Kassie Brink 1st, Alison Angley 2nd
- 200m - Kristina Pizzi 1st, Olivia Doherty 3rd
- 400m - Anna Mackey 1st, Haley Wims 3rd
- High Jump - Isabel Llach 1st
- 60m - Lottie Franck 2nd
- 600m - Grace Doherty 2nd
- 60 Hurdles - Erin Daugherty 2nd, Brink 3rd
- 5000m - Jillian Dowling 3rd
- Pole Vault - Mary Calvert 3rd
Men’s Top-3 Finishes:
- 1000m - TJ Collins 1st, Danny Reyes 2nd, Matt DeAngelis 3rd
- 200m - Oliver Kennnon 1st
- 800m - Jackson Coelho 1st
- Pole Vault - Myles Thornton-Sherman 2nd, Peter Martel 3rd
- Triple Jump - Kevin Yan 2nd, A.J. Feldman 3rd
- 600m - Kyle Dube 2nd
- High Jump - Feldman 2nd
- 400m - Matt Long 3rd
- Mile - Chris Gould 3rd
Next up for both teams is the D3 New England Championships on February 24th-25th.
Young Claims Two More Top Results at Williams Carnival
A season full of fluctuating weather conditions continued for the Nordic Ski team in the fifth weekend of EISA racing. Despite facing adversity, the Mules posted several top results in the Classic and Freestyle events at Prospect Mountain, hosted by Williams College.
Jack Young continues his breakout season for the Mules, collecting his second top-10 result of the season in Saturday's Freestyle event as the men's team finished behind Division I schools Dartmouth, UVM, and Harvard, and only one Division III institution in Middlebury.
The women's team peppered the positions around the top-30, grouping five skiers within 23 seconds. Gretta Scholz led the way in 32nd, followed closely by Maggie McGee (34th), Isabel Seay (35th), Rose Clayton (38th), and Lili Baer (40th). Natalie O'Brien was the top skier for the Women's team knotting 28th place in the Classic.
Top-30 Individual Results:
- Young: 9th Freestyle, 13th Classic
- Nemeth: 18th Freestyle, 20th Classic
- Victor Sparks: 22nd Freestyle
- Natalie O'Brien: 28th Freestyle
Heading into the final weekend of the EISA Carnival season (hosted by St. Lawrence), Colby has several athletes on the verge of qualifying for the NCAA Championships, led by Nemeth ranked 12th, Scholz ranked 14th, and Nemeth ranked 18th.
Women's Squash Finishes 6th in Walker Division at CSA Nationals
After battling in the D division last year as the #2 seed and claiming the Epps Cup, the Mules qualified to compete in the C division this year in order to try to get their hands on the Walker Cup.
Although the Mules fell in the quarterfinals to the Cardinals 4-5 (wins coming from Aileen Dominguez, Amanda Miller, India Spencer, and Juliette Love), Colby turned it around with a 7-2 win over Denison in the consolation round. Winners include Celine Odegard, Miller, Spencer, Mehak Dey-Kohil, Love, MacKenzie O’Shea, and Greta Drefke.
On the last day of the championships, the Mules came up short to Franklin & Marshall in the consolation finals with a 4-5 final score, granting Colby 6th place in the final standings and a #22 National ranking. Winners from the match include Spencer, Love, O’Shea, and Drefke.
The Men’s CSA Team Championships will take place February 24th-26th hosted by Trinity and Wesleyan.
Special thank you to the photographers who helped make this production possible: Cole Burkhart '24, Steve Cheney P25, Stephen R. Clouthier, Nancy Dauphinais '25, Paula Dauphinais '25, Jamie Fiedorek '25, Steve Fuller @flyingpoint, Michael Garrett P23, Peter Li '26, Michael Maher, Ellie Sawyer P25, Isadora Wells '26, Ansley White '26